Staffers at the White House were forced to walk back a statement mocking a report that claimed Bill Maher would receive an honor at the Kennedy Center.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor will be handed to the long-serving talk show host Maher at the Kennedy Center, according to an insider speaking to Politico.
Reports of who the award recipient would be broke earlier this week, with The Atlantic claiming Maher had been chosen. But the White House scrambled to deny it.
"Anonymous sources with half-baked information leaked to The Atlantic before conversations were finalized," an unnamed White House source said.
"There was nothing to confirm at the time and it is not appropriate to get ahead of any settled agreement between multiple parties involved."
A statement from Maher, seen by Politico, read, "Thank you to the Mark Twain people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win.
“I’d just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously denied that Maher was set to receive a prize. She released a statement shortly after news of the award nomination broke last week. She wrote, "This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award."
GOP representative Steven Cheung also took to X and claimed the story is "literally FAKE NEWS." Even Donald Trump has made his thoughts on Maher clear, with the president once taking to Truth Social and calling the talk show host a "jerk" and a "highly overrated lightweight".
Maher will be presented with the Mark Twain Prize for Humor at one of the last public events at the Kennedy Center before its two-year shutdown. The show is set to be broadcast by Netflix.
Bill Maher has faced criticism from liberal audiences over his commentary on various political issues, including immigration policy, cancel culture, and social movements. Some progressives have accused him of shifting rightward on certain topics, leading to decreased support among his traditionally liberal viewership and online backlash on social media platforms.